Moonshine Memories Ekes Out Allowance Prep at Del Mar
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Moonshine Memories (inside) holds off Steph Being Steph July 19 at Del Mar
It wasn't the easiest of preps for Moonshine Memories July 19 at Del Mar, but the two-time grade 1 winner showed enough grit for her connections to be encouraged about what lies ahead.
In an allowance stepping stone for the Sept. 2 Prioress Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Race Course, the 3-year-old Malibu Moon filly pressed early leader Show It N Moe It on the outside in the backstretch run of the 6 1/2-furlong dirt test and took command at the top of the stretch, but still had work to do.
Grade 2-placed Steph Being Steph loomed to Moonshine Memories' outside in the lane and appeared primed to go past the leader, but the Simon Callaghan-trained betting favorite fought back on the inside to prevail by a head under jockey Flavien Prat.
"It's never easy, but it was a sneaky-good allowance," Callaghan said of the six-filly field (Show It N Moe It and Steph Being Steph are both stakes winners).
Off at 1-2 Moonshine Memories was just a head behind Show It N Moe It as she set fractions of :22.30 and :45.29 through a half-mile, but Prat said his mount idled a bit once she hit the lead.
"Turning for home she kind of looked around, but as soon as she saw (Steph Being Steph), she reengaged," the rider said after Moonshine Memories hit the wire in 1:16.57.
Entering Thursday's race Moonshine Memories hadn't won during her 3-year-old season—she finished second in the Angels Flight Stakes at Santa Anita Park in May and came in fourth behind the likes of Monomoy Girl and Talk Veuve to Me in the Acorn Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park last time out June 9—but did some of her best work as a 2-year-old at Del Mar in 2017. She broke her maiden on debut in August and sped to victory in the Del Mar Debutante (G1) in September.
Then came a score in the Chandelier Stakes (G1) around two turns at Santa Anita, which preceded an off-the-board run in the 14 Hands Winery Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), but Callaghan said she may be best suited as a sprinter going forward.
"I almost think six furlongs might even be better than 6 1/2," Callaghan said of the Prioress' distance. "I just think she's developing more as a sprinter."
Bred in Kentucky by Summer Wind Farm, out of the Unbridled's Song mare Unenchantedevening, Moonshine Memories now has a 4-1-0 record from seven starts and $518,500 in earnings for owners Bridlewood Farm, Susan Magnier, Derrick Smith, and Michael Tabor.